The Flower's Song
by Mai Pintian
Summary: Resolute/Renegades crossverse. Shortly after being left heartbroken by Scarlett, Snake Eyes is deployed on a mission to Tokyo to obtain info from a Cobra spy... could she be who he has been missing to fix his wounds? To speak when words cannot be spoken? NO OCs HERE.


**A/N: Just a random 'what if?' I've been thinking of. Inori is from Guilty Crown, an anime you've gotta watch! The song is 'Euterpe', the english version is here: **** www .youtube watch?v= c83HLDbLre0** **(no spaces) though I prefer the Japanese original version...**  
**Snake Eyes is owned by G.I. Joe!**

* * *

Tokyo.  
It was so different from the small islands and villages that dotted the islands of Japan. Those rural areas were now fading, whispers in the wind. Their voices too small and distant to be heard. They were like candles in the midst of a wildfire on a dry plain- helpless to stop it, only able to aid in its growth. Some have escaped, though torn asunder like trash, still threatened by the fact that the fire still roared around it, crouched in a hunter's position, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Others were left completely burned out before the fire even touched them...  
The Arashikage was one of these 'candles.'  
Thus, upon entry to his first city, Snake Eyes was left confused and muddled. After being in the dark for so long, the light burned his eyes and left him hollow. He felt as if something had been hidden from him for his entire life. The answer so near, yet it slipped from his grasp every time he found it. But Snake Eyes was patient, bided his time and, with the small helping hands of others, managed to catch it unguarded and unsuspecting.  
The Arashikage was a criminal clan. Snake Eyes has known this for ten years, but it still haunts him that he was a part of it. So many were unaware of it, such as Jinx and many other friends of his. But the rest, such as Storm Shadow, accepted it and eagerly anticipated the day when they would become a complete part of it.  
Snake Eyes was no longer a part of it now, which he wasn't sure if he was glad or not. He never got to see the clan change for the better, only to watch as it's beloved leader fall. He knew the fire would be rekindled soon, but only with assistance from the wildfire, the technology that he had fought against for so long without knowing it.  
Patting his grenades, Snake Eyes wasn't so sure if he liked that fact or not.  
Just as he didn't know if Scarlett loved him, hated him, or was merely toying with his heart.  
Scarlett...  
A steady heart skipped a beat. No... now wasn't the time to worry about her nor her feelings. He was on a mission to obtain valuable information from a Cobra double agent. He or she was somewhere in the dark alleyways of Tokyo, the places left scorched by the fire and unable to keep up with it's hunger.  
Snake Eyes picked up his pace and wove through the bodies. He was near, his heavily trained 'ninja intuition' could feel it. He had also taken the time to memorize the map of the area he would be in, so that helped as well.  
He rounded a corner. The flow of people no longer surrounded him- no, suffocated him. Restrained him from freely moving and forcing him into a constant tide that he fought for so long. His feet steadily picked up pace until he was jogging.  
A small voice sang from somewhere. The feet stopped as if he had hit a wall.  
He was briefed that the informant was some sort of famous singer, but he didn't expect her voice to sound so... beautiful.

_Wild flower blossoming..._  
_I beg of you, tell me this so I know too..._  
_why do people fight?_  
_They all act as if it's right..._  
_Don't they know that's no way to live?_

Snake Eyes mentally hit himself, this was no time for stopping. He had a job to do, even if it meant interrupting...  
His feet moved, but his heart didn't. Physically, he was approaching the song, mentally he was in the dark alley, alone, and listening.

_Valiant flower blossoming_  
_What can you see when you look down on me?_  
_Why can't people say that they're sorry for the way that they've fought _  
_I thought that we once could_

Didn't he hear this somewhere before? When he was still training and new to the Arashikage, before the death of the Hard Master? He knew there was this one girl who tended to his wounds early on in his training. She alway sang and was friendly to him while others weren't. She was his motivation...  
She was also the reason he got hurt on purpose just to see her...  
She was his first crush, as he recalled. The only other who he had similar feelings for was Scarlett.  
Snake Eyes couldn't help but wonder where the girl was now? Was she alive, or killed by enemies? She would most likely be married and with kids by now... but she always complained that she didn't want her life to be 'normal.' Anyways, nobody would understand her enough to get close to her.  
He felt the urge to sing along to the song that he knew so well, but no words came. Wait, when did he not know how to speak? What happened to-  
The song's beauty had captured him and returned him to the past. Snake Eyes shook off his momentary confusion with slight irritation.

_When the sky has cleared and rain has passed_  
_I still won't forget the past_  
_You are not alone on your own..._  
_I remember you back then,_  
_trembling in front of me..._  
_Crying deep inside silently..._

As Snake Eyes rounded a corner, he met the objective.  
Her slender body leaned against the dark and dirty walls. Moonlight softly lit her unusual geisha-like clothing... it was colored like a fire, or was it perhaps a sunset? The design was like a flower... but it was also similar to that of a bird. Her skin was fair and pale, glowing in the soft light. Her hair was pink and held in two low hanging ponytails on either side of her head. Her face was delicate and slender and seemed to hold a gentle curiosity on everything it touched upon with it's ruby, glistening eyes. Her hands worked feverishly on something small. Her slender neck looked up along with her delicate hands to view upon her handy work that consisted of pale string.  
Snake Eyes stepped forward, entranced by this woman. She seemed so delicate and doll-like against such a grimy background. As soon as Snake Eyes' dark form erupted into the light, her face whipped quickly towards the side. Her body leaped off of the wall and her string art was placed inside of a pocket behind one of the fabric flowers on each side of her hips. Her lips, painted with a soft pink, turned into a frown.  
"Who are you?" her soft voice was like a melody to him. Her eyes moved towards his grenades and blades before looking at his visor and... it appeared as if she could see straight into his soul. She knew what he was thinking, yet was unaware of it at the same time. Her hands lingered on the pouch opposite of where she placed her... She pulled out a slender kunai, painted the same as her clothing with two streaming pink ribbons tied around it. The handle was like the flowers on her dress and it seemed as if it would come to life if planted in the ground. Snake Eyes was entranced by this- he knew all ninja made their own kunai to fit their style and he knew such a delicate design must've taken hours to make with care.  
Snake Eyes raised his hands in peace. The woman inserted her knife into her pocket once more. "I guess you are who I am speaking with tonight..." her eyes moved towards the full moon, just as entranced by it as Snake Eyes was with her. "I'll tell you... everything I know about _Cobra_," her words were light and melodic, the whispers of an innocent child that knew only peace, yet somehow she managed to hiss out the final word in rage, a mockery of what it was.  
"I guess we should introduce ourselves," she grabbed a piece of paper and pencil, surprising Snake Eyes "I was told you couldn't speak..."  
Snake Eyes nodded and approached the woman, emerging completely from the shadows. The woman gasped softly, her mouth in a small 'o.' Her eyes met his with sudden familiarity. "Snake Eyes."  
He froze. She rolled up her detached sleeve, revealing the familiar red stripes... his head spun as if hit with a perfume. Voices danced in his head '_Arashikage... she is Arashikage... In... Ino..._'  
She smiled "It's me, Snake Eyes... Inori..." His arms seized her shoulders with a sudden rush. He felt as if he could laugh '_Inori's alive... She's alive, with me!_' Instead he stood still and stared into her eyes, framed by the faintest of red eyeliner and long eyelashes. He felt her breath on his face... the soft perfume of it. He remembered her... he remembered everything...

* * *

"_Snake Eyes? Again?" Inori smiled as she brought rice to the injured ninja-in-training. His arms were bandaged and bleeding slightly, yet his smile was as if it were made of sunlight and all else that was good._  
"_I honestly think Hard Master is trying to kill me..." Snake Eyes joked with his friend. He sat up as she reached his side. She placed a hand on his back to help him up as she simultaneously sat down._  
"_He only wants the best for you..." Inori chimed as she filled a spoon with rice. She moved it towards his face, only to be blocked by his hands._  
"_I got it..." his arms shook as he struggled to feed himself. Inori was smiling with amusement, yet her eyes were filled with worry. "Ugh..." Snake Eyes moaned as the rice fell._  
_Inori giggled. "I'll just feed you. Don't worry, I won't tell, your pride won't be hurt," Inori picked up where she left off and smiled as the ninja-in-training devoured the food. _  
_Snake Eyes liked the warmth of the food entering his empty stomach... but he liked the warmth of Inori's small hands caressing his back and telling him of unusual things._  
"_I saw a dandelion today, did I tell you?" she pulled a yellow flower from her pocket "I didn't expect to see one blooming so late... they say it can tell you if you're in love." Snake Eyes watched with curiosity as she brushed her chin with the flower. "Am I yellow there?"_  
"_No," Snake Eyes blinked slowly, unsure of what it meant._  
_Inori smiled warmly "That means I'm in love... now it's your turn..."_

* * *

"Snake Eyes..." Inori murmured as if in a trance. Her head rested on his chest, and for a moment everything was perfect. Nothing could hurt them now, he didn't care anymore. Her arms embraced his body and he felt all of his strained muscles relax. The pain from his fights before vanished and was replaced by a pleasant warmth.  
She tugged on his mask, a small motion that nearly escaped Snake Eyes' attention. "Your... face... I want to see it... again," her voice was like a soft breeze now, caressing his face and ears tenderly. He obliged and removed the black that seemed the choke, the silver that became a wall... he was suddenly very conscious of the wounds on his face and became shy.  
"Beautiful," she sighed as her fingers traced the scars, making him shiver. "The marks of fights... aren't good at first... but end up so... interesting..." Ruby met emerald after the final phrase of the second, the latter shivering not from the winter night... but rather the intensity of the former.  
Soft lips met scarred once and everything seemed perfect...  
They released their hold, the time seemed so small and left Snake Eyes wishing it was longer. "I've missed you... so much," Inori's small head rested on his chest once more, and for a moment she was like a child. Innocence wafted around her, and Snake Eyes was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Scarlett's wounds left on his heart were tenderly cured by the gentle hands of Inori. Scars would remain, yes, but they would be forgotten with what was to come. He grabbed the pencil and paper and wrote three words, showing his bad, English penmanship yet still somehow legible...  
'I love you.' The paper shook in her hands and liquid crystal fell onto it. He wasn't sure if it was his or hers...  
"I love you too, Snake Eyes," Inori whispered...  
"_Snake Eyes_," the radio in his ear crackled to life. Inori shifted her head, listening intently. "_Five minutes until we send backup. You've been off radar for a while, we think there's Cobra activity nearby, but we aren't sure._" Inori sighed and relinquished her hold on Snake Eyes. The black ninja suddenly felt very old and tired...  
Inori pulled her knives out and walked out the same way Snake Eyes entered, stopping just before the shadows. Snake Eyes tilted his head in curiousity. Inori smiled "Let's ruin their day..." Snake Eyes nodded.  
His bird returned to him with a new fire, one he would willingly be taken over by...

* * *

**A/N: Like? REVIEW! If I get enough reviews, I might make this a multi-chaptered story.**  
**Should I put this in the crossovers section? I don't really want to 'cause it won't get much attention there nor will it get much attention in the Guilty Crown Archives...**

**REVIEW PLEASE! \(^o^)/**


End file.
